Forest of Rainbows
by Strawberry Pegasus
Summary: This is the absolute worst thing I have ever written. Enjoy it anyway.


"Dinky, get back here! I'm supposed to be watching you!"

Sweetheart sighed and galloped after the filly. When Derpy had approached her looking for a foalsitter, things had seemed so simple and easy. What she hadn't counted on was the curiosity that came naturally with being a child.

Following the sound of Dinky's giggling, Sweetheart found herself in the everfree forest. She opened her mouth to shout Dinky's name again, but all that came out was a scream as something pierced her side. Almost instantly, the forest grew fuzzy as everything faded to darkness and silence.

Sweetheart awoke lying down in a completely unfamiliar room. A bit of squirming revealed that all four of her legs were strapped down, as well as her torso.

"Are you awake now?"

The yellow pony turned her head to be met with a grotesque-looking filly. There was something a little off about her grey eyes, and her mane was a vibrant, unnatural pink, but neither of those were what made her so disturbing. The part of her face that terrified Sweetheart was her mouth. Cut into the edges of her wide smile were two jagged scars, placed to give the impression of the smile being even wider. The young unicorn must have noticed Sweetheart staring at her. She spoke.

"Do you like my smile? I made it myself. My name is Swirl, by the way."

"Where am I? Why am I strapped down?"

"You're in my house. My sister will be here soon. She'll tell you more."

With that, Swirl turned and left the room. As she watched the filly leave, Sweetheart noticed for the first time that she seemed to be on a fenced-off platform over a larger room. She couldn't tell what was down there, but she could tell from the loud whirring noise it was making that she didn't want to find out. Sweetheart stared at the surgical tools that lay beside her as she tried not to think about how every horror story she had ever read had started like this.

After a few minutes, another unicorn entered the room. Sweetheart had never seen a living creature so terrifying. She was dark grey, with a stringy reddish purple mane that mostly covered her eyes. As the nightmare of a pony got closer, it became evident that one eye was orange and the other was blood red. Her cutie mark was a lightning bolt emerging from a cloud. Every part of her body was covered with purplish scars too deep to be accidental.

"You're probably wondering why you're here. I'll tell you. My name is Storm and I love having fun. Unfortunately, Princess Celestia and her nasty soldiers didn't like my fun. They locked me away. It was torture, and not the fun kind at all! Then one day, a group of pegasi broke into my cell and offered to set me free. This part will need a bit more explaining. I assume you've heard about the Rainbow Factory?"

Sweetheart could already tell where this was going, but she decided to play along.

"Yes, they were killing innocent foals. An accident with their machine killed the manager and uncovered the conspiracy. That area of the factory was closed, only to be reopened later when more humane rainbow-making methods were discovered."

"That's almost correct. Another method was never actually discovered. All they did was change who extracts the spectra. In exchange for my release, the pegasi requested that I work for them. It was an easy choice. They gave me this facility and I brought Swirl here to help me with my work. I even made a scientific breakthrough! The more pain the ponies experience, the brighter the colors turn out. In short, if I play a little bit, the factory produces prettier rainbows."

Suddenly, Sweetheart remembered something.

"Where's Dinky?"

"What?"

"The filly I was with. Where is she? WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?"

"Oh, _her_. She was lucky. Even though she has the exact colors we need, we don't use foals anymore. Fully grown ponies are _much _more efficient. If you don't have any more questions, let's begin."

Using her magic, Storm lifted a pair of scissors.

"We'll start with your mane. I hope you don't mind. I usually keep it intact, but Swirl's birthday is coming up, and you'd make an excellent doll."

Using the scissors, Storm snipped off Sweetheart's long, curly mane, then her tail. Next, she picked up a scalpel.

"Next, your cutie mark. Too bad you're an earth pony. Wings and horns are such fun to remove, and they have so many uses! Oh well. At least I can still add to _one_ of my collections."

The scalpel cut into Sweetheart's flank. Not wanting to give the psychotic unicorn the satisfaction of a scream, she cried instead.

"Come on, don't cry. It's not like I'll be throwing it away or anything. I'm going to put your cutie mark in a nice frame, perhaps in Swirl's room. Doesn't it make you happy that your skin will bring joy to a little girl?"

Sweetheart continued crying.

"I meant to ask you earlier, what does your cutie mark mean? It's a heart. Does it represent love? Beauty?"

"Kindness. It represents kindness."

Storm cut away the last little piece of flesh and triumphantly held up the bloodied rectangle of skin. Immediately, she placed a cotton square on the wound, explaining that she wanted Sweetheart to remain alive for as long as possible. Next, she lifted up a set of pattern pieces. As she arranged them on her victim's skin, Storm explained her intentions.

"Remember how I said you would make an excellent doll?"

Sweetheart nodded.

"That's exactly what I'm doing right now. They don't really need the entire pony, anyway."

Piece by piece, the pattern was cut out with the bloody scalpel. Each time she finished cutting out part of the pattern, Storm covered the skinless patch with cotton to ensure that Sweetheart remained alive and conscious throughout the ordeal. It was a long and painful process. Despite Storm's efforts, blood pooled on the wooden table, staining it bright red.

Sweetheart's eyes began to close, but Storm hit her lightly on the head.

"Don't fall asleep now! This is the best part!"

Storm removed all the straps holding Sweetheart down, except for the one around her torso. Sweetheart swung at her captor's face with one of her forelegs. Storm easily grabbed hold of the pony's hoof and twisted it until Sweetheart couldn't help but scream.

"What a lovely voice you have." commented Storm as she moved further up the leg. Applying pressure with her forelegs, she easily snapped her victim's knee joint, and then dislocated Sweetheart's shoulder with a well-placed kick. This process repeated until the only limb left was Sweetheart's right hind leg. Instead of the usual kick, Storm opted to break the final joint by lifting Sweetheart by her rump and slowly bending her leg inwards. For a while after the leg was broken, Storm continued, delighting in the tortured screams. After about a minute, Sweetheart's skin began to rip and more blood joined the rapidly expanding puddle.

"Oops! I twisted too far!" Giggling, Storm levitated a hacksaw and removed the leg, laughing louder with each drop of blood that gushed onto the table and each time her victim screamed or cried. Finally, she fully removed the leg and cast it aside.

"Now wasn't that FUN?" asked Storm. "Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, and that includes our little game." She then pulled a lever and a mechanical whirring sound joined the one coming from downstairs. Storm unbuckled the final restraint and removed the cotton squares as the table began to retract into the wall beside it, revealing a sea of spinning metal blades. As a demonstration, she tossed in the severed leg. It was quickly ground up and blood splattered against the metal shaft connecting the two floors.

More terrified now than ever before, Sweetheart considered jumping. She thought it over for a second, but decided that she'd never make it. Even if she did, Storm would be right there to shove her in. As much as she hated to admit it, this was the end. Sweetheart would never see her family again. Her friends would never joke around with her again, and Dinky's smile would never again warm her heart. Tears once again filled her turquoise eyes. Then Sweetheart realized something. She didn't want to die unhappy. So as the table finished retracting into the wall and she fell down the dark, bloodstained chute, the yellow earth pony forced herself to smile. Sweetheart relaxed, closed her eyes, and thought one last thought, keeping it quick so as not to be interrupted by death: _I lived._


End file.
